Asparagus-can.



G. W. WEBER.

ASPARAGUS CAN.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31. 1913.

' Patented 0012. 26, 1915.

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vI WW1: ge/L War iii an r in GEORGE W. WEBER, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ASPARAGUS-CAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, 19%.

Application filed March 31 1913. Serial No. 757,845.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE V. VEBER, a citizen of the United States, residing in St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Asparagus-Cans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in asparagus can or can suitable for shipping other food-stuffs which must of necessity be so packed and held within the can or container, that the food-stuff cannot move around in the can and will not become mashed from rough handling during shipment.

Hitherto, glass bottles or jars have sometimes been used for shipping asparagus, but it has been found that the light which passes through glass, not only bleaches the asparagus to an undesirable grayish yellow color, but also toughens the asparagus, and for these reasons and also for the further reason that glass containers are not adapted for rough handling, the use of glass has been practically abandoned in favor of tin containers. v

Of the tin containers which have been used for packing asparagus, there are two types, namely, the well known cap-hole cans and oblong round corner cans; The cap hole can, however, while possessing some advantages. over other forms of containers, is undesirable for the reason that it is not of the so-called sanitary type, the asparagus must be packed one stalk at a time through the relatively small opening at the top, and furthermore, on account of the fact that such cans are difficult of internal lacquering or coating, and when the cans are not coated, the vegetable acids or gases cause the formation of large quantities of salts of tin, and these salts are sometimes in such large quantities that the government may reject the pack on the ground that the quantity of salts exceeds the amount allowed by law. The oblong round cornered cans are now most generally used and preferred on account of the fact that the same are more easily filled, and are more easily coated because of the large open end, but this type of can is objectionable for the reason that the flanges at the corners of the can, which are used to form the seam with the can end, easily break, thereby preventing and a further difliculty is encountered in cans having flat sides which are double seamed, due to the difficulty in forming a tight double seam along a straight side, since it is found that in forming the scam, the flange on the body of the can backs up during the seaming and does not unite with the flange of the end as it should and does in the case of ordinary round cans. In the rectangular or oblong cans, the strength of the united seam between the body and the ends is limited to the strength of the folded portions, whereas, in the case of the double seam of a round can, the seam tightens up like a hoop on a barrel and on account of its circular shape it is impossible to unfold the seam by pressure on the inside of the can.

The object of my invention is to provide a sheet metal can which will possess all the advantages of both of the types of cans now in use for packing asparagus and like food-stuffs, and yet which will possess none of the undesirable features of either of them, and furthermore a can of such type that when hermetically sealed under vacuum will firmly hold the asparagus or other food-stuff in position and prevent the same from moving about within the can during shipment, to thereby preserve the asparagus intact until delivered to the consumer.

Inthe drawing forming apart of this specification, Figure 1 shows in perspective, one form of sheet metal can or container which embodies my improvements, and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially at the longitudinal center of the can shown in Fig. 1.

In said drawing, the can is designated generally by the reference A, and, as shown, comprises a body member having cylindrical end. portions 10, the latter, intermediate the ends, merging into aplurality of substantially flat or plain panels 11, separated by rounded corner portions 111, the number of such panels shown in the drawing being 5, although, as will be understood, a greater or less number of such panels might be used. The shape of collapsible panel illustrated, with rounded or narrowed upper and lower ends, closely approximates the form of panel which naturally tends to form on the side of a cylindrical can when it IS sub ected to considerable exterior atmosphenopressure; and. this form of panel will a double seam 13'. The interior of the can is provided with a coating 14, of lacquer or other suitable material adapted to resist the attack of acids on the tin, and to thereby prevent the formation of salts of tin.

As will be obvious from an inspection of Fig. 2, the cross sectional area of the can at the longitudinal center thereof, is appreciably less than the cross sectional area of the can at either end, and hence when the asparagus is in place within the can, the same will be firmly gripped at the center of the stalks, but the tips or heads of the as vparagus, which are located at the top of the can within the cylindrical end portion 10 thereof, occupy a relatively large space, and hence will not become crushed or mashed during shipment, the asparagus stalks being gripped sufliciently tight at the centers so as to prevent longitudinal movement ofthe asparagus when the can is tipped upside down. With the type of can shown in the drawing, after the same is filled with the asparagus, the asparagus will be processed or cooked in the exhaust box and the cover or closing end applied while the contents are hot and while the air in the space at the top of the can is in a rarefied condition. As soon as the contents of thenow hermetically sealed can are allowed to cool, a partial vacuum will be created within the can, thereby causing the panels 11 to collapse inwardly, as sh wn in Fig. 2, which will further decrease t e cross sectional area of the can intermediate the ends thereof and increase the gripping action of the can on the asparagus, and as will be obvious, only the paneled portions of the can will be effected by the formation of the partial vacuum, since the cylindrical formation of the ends prevents their collapse. It will also be noted that on account of the flat sided or paneled construction of the can, the bunch of asparagus will be prevented from rotating within a the can, which it might otherwise do when being handled, if the from end to end.

can were cylindrical Another important result obtained by the use of my improved can, is the prevention of swell heads that is, cans which have their ends bulged outwardly, and for this reason, cannot be sold to the trade although the contents of the can may be in perfect edible condition. Such swell heads result from the formation of acertain amount of harmless gases within the can after the sealing, and in the case of cans now used, causes the bulging of the ends. With my can, the formation of such harmless gases will be accommodated by the yielding of the panels 11, which, being of sheet metal, are relatively yieldable and flexible and more yieldable and flexible than are the can ends themselves, the latter, in actual practice, being provided with a number of concentric depressions or ribs which strengthen or stiffen them.

Although I have herein shown and described one form of container embodying my invention, yet it will be obvious that various changes, such as in the size, shape, number of panels, etc., may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all such changes are contemplated as come with in the scope of the claim appended hereto.

I claim A sheet metal container for hermetically inclosing and gripping food products such as asparagus, the sides of said container having cylindrical end portions of substantially the same diameter, and the container having its sides between said end portions formed with panels and normally, before the can is filled, polygonal in cross section, which polygonal middle portion is normally of less cross sectional area than is either of the cylindrical end portions and adapted to become of still less area by the collapsing of the middle parts of the said panels so as to grip and hold asparagus at the middle of the stalks and prevent the same from movement within the container, the said panels having narrowed ends and being curved inwardly from end to end and also from side to side; substantially as specified.

' GEORGE W. \VEBER.

Witnesses:

' W. D. FOSTER, C. W. GRAHAM. 

